Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Re: Bhishma's death
Dear devotees,
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krishna! My pranams!
I am very sorry for being inaccurate in some details. Actually when Lord Balarama appeared on the scene, the sages were conducting a sacrifice. At that time while everyone else got up and offered obeisances to the Lord, Romaharshana Suta remained seated on the vyasasana. It was actually in the middle of a sacrifice and not a discourse!
However that being the only error, it is a fact that Romaharshana Suta was given the authority over the Puranas. In the twelth canto the various branches of Vyasa's parampara is mentioned where it is described how the one Veda was divided into various branches. There it is described how Romaharshana Suta, the disciple of Vyasa was given the authority over the Puranas, including Srimad Bhagavatam of course.
The rest of it however is as before, with Romaharshana Suta's lack of devotional qualifications or attitude. Apparently the sages conducting the yagna had appointed him to sit on the asana. They had blessed him with long life and freedom from death and miseries, etc. In some scriptures it is said that Romaharshana had been given a life-span as long as that of Brahma (I think Chaitanya Bhagavata, not sure....). However in the absence of devotional qualifications, all those boons weren't worth anything before the Lord's potency.
When Lord Balarama killed Romaharshana, the sages were all alarmed and they said in a state of shock, "You unknowingly committed brahma-hatya or killing of a brahmana." It shows that although those sages were very qualified, but not as qualified as the devotees of the Lord either because they considered the Lord's activities to fall into mundane piety and sin while the same act of killing gives immense pleasure to the devotees. The Lord in the form of time ultimately kills everyone including brahmanas, kings, demigods, demons and all material beings as was revealed to Arjuna in the display of the Lord's virat (universal) form.
But then the sages immediately calmed down and Lord Balarama being merciful immediately gave them intelligence again to let them understand his nature. Having got back their intelligence and realised, "What are we saying?" and then immediately backtracked and described the Lord's activites as transcendental, but then wished that he should go on pilgrimage to set the example for sinful jiva souls. Given that temple worship was the standard process in dvapara yuga, visitng holy places and seeing the deities there was recommended spiritual activity.
However the sages wanted Lord Balarama to do the impossible act of keeping their promises and also Lord Balarama's desires intact simultaneously.
SB 10.78.35: The sages said: Please see to it, O Rāma, that Your power and that of Your kuśa weapon, as well as our promise and Romaharṣaṇa's death, all remain intact.
But the Lord easily did that, being fully omnipotent. Lord Nityananda Balarama then selected Romaharshana's son, Suta Gosvami as the authority over the Puranas and handed the knowledge over to him along with all of Romaharshana's qualifications as he was full of devotional qualifications and he was the competent authority to speak the Srimad Bhagavatam. Thus Mayavadism was defeated in Dvapara Yuga and pure devotion was established in its place. Vaisnava Vijaya! ;)
The Srimad Bhagavatam appears and disappears from time to time just like the Lord. In one appearance Ananta Shesha narrated it to the four Kumaras. In another case, Maharaja Ambarisa listened to the Srimad Bhagavatm. At another time, Narada Muni heard it from Narayana Rsi. In yet another, Lord Siva spoke it to Parvati and the parrot Suka. In yet another time, it was also revealed to Vyasa and in the Mahabharata he in turn taught it to his disciples.
In Srimad Bhagavatam (1.1.3) it is said that the Srimad Bhagavatam attained a new flavour altogether when spoken from the mouth of Sukadeva Gosvami. That means that Srimad Bhagavatam was indeed manifest and known to all the sages who came to see King Parikshit. But the version spoken by Srila Suka was full of transcendental mellows and this version was heard by Suta Gosvami who was there at the time and he in turn narrated this more mellowed version to the sages at Naimisharanya.
As a matter of fact I am just learning how to read spiritual vani from the instructions of the devotees of this sangha, not to stick with what I read with gross eyes, but to pause and meditate deeply and let the Lord reveal tons of nectar. And wherever we have a doubt, we should not cross that point until the Lord has given us all the nectar we deserve to hear. As a matter of fact, Hadai Prabhu's read the chapter on Jagai and Madhai in Chaitanya Bhagavata 33 times in that manner! Now only I see what is meant by Bhaktisiddhanta's instruction that we should read it 100 times over. Of course, acaryas apart no one knows who did, but I am praying that in this sangha the devotees should go through it even a million times over and also give others like myself that opportunity to do so too!
Hoping for your mercy to get the association of vani,
Srinath
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